Guided by AAPCHO’s Board of Directors, the decision to use AA&NHOPI reflects AAPCHO’s commitment to using an acronym that is consistent with the Office of Management and Budget’s Statistical Directive 15. AAPCHO believes this move falls in line with our efforts to promote the use of a common federal standard among all of our partners. Though we advocate for the use of a uniform standard, AAPCHO acknowledges that organizations will use varying terms and acronyms based on the values of their constituencies.

AAPCHO will henceforth refer to this population as Asian Americans & Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, using AA&NHOPI to replace the acronym AAPI in all presentations, publications, documentation, and communications vehicles beginning in January 2009.

For the past twenty years, AAPCHO has advocated for programs and policies that improve the health status and access of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. By now adopting the use of AA&NHOPI, we hope to better represent the unique diversity comprising this population and we hope that other organizations representing these communities will strive to do the same.